“I need you by next Thursday” 

Unhappy with the diving scene in Cayman, i had rung Aquatic Centers (and other dive companies) looking for work. Randy had answered the phone and after a few pointed questions, offered me a job.  And so, early 1986, 2 weeks after my 21st birthday and with $63 in my pocket, i arrived at Prospect Reef to meet Randy, Maritha and little Lauren. We piled into the family Gurgel and they dropped me off at the Marler’s house on McNamara. They were off island, but Derrylyn, the new dive shop office manager,  was staying at the house. 

The next 2+ years working with Randy was a master class in Diving and i absorbed it all like a sponge. Crowd control, safety etiquette, marine conservation, biology, photography, sharing his passion for the oceans and a general positive attitude that always saw the good in things. He was also complete shit at fixing anything electrical or mechanical, for that he relied on others.

Eva and Alan Baskin bought the dive shop and Jim opened his photography shop next door. We were like a family, so many good times. 

Some memorable days: getting a warning letter from Derrylyn for sneaking off to the Chikuzen when she made us promise we wouldn’t (we did it more than she ever knew, we loved diving that wreck)  Losing the dive boat off the eastern end of Salt island, with Randy attempting to chase it down. He didn’t, a fisherman saw it drifting by and decided to tow it back upwind, where he met Randy furiously swimming mid channel. But to the guests, Randy was a god when he pulled up in the boat, where we had gathered nervously on the rocky shoreline. We tried in vain to keep that little mistake quiet…. Giant Jew fish, super models, whales, night dives with howling currents, too many stories to share here.

Job changes, children and life in general had kept us from seeing one another very often, but any chance encounter was always a joyful one. 

Randy was one of the most positive influences in my life and i shall forever be thankful for spending the time with him i did. He was indeed a special person and we are all made poorer by his loss. 

I will always remember Randy patiently teaching me how to scuba dive many years ago in Tortoa. I also remember, whenever he, Maritha and I were together over the years, laughing with them as he told tales of their experiences, some harowing, while taking groups scuba diving around the world.

Rest in peace, Randy.

Special thoughts and heartfelt prayers are with you Maritha and your family during this time of sorrow.  I remember Randy as a caring and patient man.  A model husband and dad who have touched the hearts of many.  His memory will definitely live on.  

In 1981, I left university to move to the British Virgin Islands with my parents. I couldn't find a job. One morning, Luanna Marler called from the Aquatic Centers. She said, "Bettina, if you want a job, you need to get to Prospect Reef in an hour so you can learn how to dive."

" WHAT, ME, DIVE? As in SCUBA???" I spluttered.

"Yep", said Lu. "I have a job for you selling dives but you need to do it to sell it. Just get down here. Bring a suit and a towel."

"And don't stop to think about it." she added.

Randy taught the resort course which led to two years of working together at the Aquatic Centers. As our work life and friendship grew, I discovered that the gentility, kindness, patience and intelligence with which Randy introduced the world beneath the surface to a terrified beginner was the essence of the man.

As happens, our lives took us in different directions and in recent years, we rarely saw each other. Over the years my admiration for Randy and for Maritha only grew as they forged for themselves a life centered on family and faith whilst pursuing the dream of working at the thing that fulfilled them together. Randy was a remarkable man and together with Maritha, grew a remarkable life and family.   

— with Mike Royle, Jim Scheiner and Randy keil

Our dear friend Tim Holt asked me to post this on his behalf:

Randy touched all of us in many different ways.

He was a loving husband and lifetime partner to Maritha, a doting father, dedicated to his loving kids, Lauren and Austin and to the rest of us, a great friend, always happy and smiling!

He lived for the ocean.

Diving, with Maritha by his side, was his life!

He is a true legend of the whole BVI diving community and will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.

The proposed and hopeful underwater octopus artificial reef memorial will always be a reminder to us of the great man who strived his whole life to safely share, protect and educate the wonders of the underwater world. I do hope it gets approved.

Randy, it was such an honor knowing you, may your soul rest in peace. Timpa

I am so sad to hear this news and lift Maritha, Lauren, Austin and family up in prayer during this very difficult time. 

Randy and I met at Fort Bragg while serving in the Army in 1971.  We were both in Special Forces training.   We ended up in separate units, Randy assigned to the 7th SF group while I was assigned to the 5th group, both at Fort Bragg.  Even though we were in separate units we got together regularly for recreation and parties.  After the Army Randy moved to California and we rented a house together.  That old two bedroom house looked like a sporting goods store inside and reflected our love for adventure.   I was attending  Pasadena City College as a Geology Major while Randy was in grad school at Cal State LA as an education major specializing in learning disabilities.   I had struggled with learning disabilities ever since the third grade.  Randy and I would have long conversations in the evening about the topic and he helped me to understand how my brain was wired.  I think all that contributed to my success in college and two degrees in science.

We also had a lot of things in common like SCUBA diving, backpacking, rock climbing,  camping and exploring the deserts in our 4x4s.   We had a lot of adventures before he and Maritha moved to Tortola.  We did a winter ascent of the two highest peaks in the Sierra Nevada mountains,  Mount Whitney and Mount Williamson.  In the summer of 1974 we did two solo hikes on the Salmon River in Idaho.  Randy hiked up river and I hiked down river.  We met in the middle and had to hitchhike back to the car which took another 4 days.    We both ended with a desire to see more of that wilderness and planned a bigger trip for the summer of 1977.  On that trip we took two cars (to avoid a long hitchhike back to the car) and hiked down the Middle Fork of the Salmon and the main Salmon for a total of 200 miles.  It was an epic trip!

Unfortunately our lives took different paths.  Randy moved to the BVI and I ended up in Nevada in a wonderful career as a Field Geologist.   I visited Randy and Maritha in Tortola 3 times, the last time was in 1996.  The last time I saw them was while they were on a family vacation to Yosemite in 2001.

I sadly regret that we never got together again to share all those great memories. (as I write this my eyes are getting watery, must be springtime allergies)

Mitch Casteel

Three happy divers — with Randy and Peter & Sue Studdy

Ascending in strong current-Randy leading the way. — with Randy and Peter & Sue Studdy

RMS Rhône Pre dive briefing. — with Randy and Peter & Sue Studdy

We are saddened to learn Randy passed away in August 2023.

We have such happy memories of time spent with Randy and the many diving adventures he personally led us on. We first met Randy on Peter Island in 2003 when we had little knowledge of scuba diving or marine ecology. Previous diving holidays at other locations in the Caribbean on crowded dive boats had been “hard work” rather than a pleasure and on this, our first visit to the BVI, we were unsure we really wanted to repeat the diving experience.

However it was much too hot for us to lie in the shade on the beach and we decided it best to hide from the sun underwater and, with some reservations, to go diving. The diving was of course great. Randy not only taught us how to dive safely but about the diversity of the underwater world and the spectacular reefs of the BVI.

Every dive was enjoyable and from then on diving became our main recreational interest and we returned to Peter Island each year until 2017 when hurricane Irma severely damaged the BVI

Randy was an inspiring and enthusiastic teacher and always so much fun to be with. On every dive we learned something new because he invariably pointed out things of interest, naming the creatures on his slate ,and back on Apache we valued talking to him about the marine flora and fauna we had just seen on the reef.

In 2006 Randy  invited us to join him and a party of divers on a “once in a lifetime” dive holiday to Galapagos. It was a huge adventure for us and an amazing, challenging diving experience. At Darwin’s arch we encountered strong currents and huge shoals of schooling Scalloped Hammerhead sharks- the memories live on. Randy and Lauren personally looked after us on every dive and when necessary held Sue’s hand during ascents in strong currents.

In the BVI Rhone Reef was our favourite dive site. The enjoyment of diving the wreck of the Rhone was always enhanced by Randy’s exciting pre dive briefings and stories about the 1867 hurricane and the events leading to the sinking of RMS Rhone.

The attached picture taken on the deck of Apache shows Randy at his best telling a wonderful story as well as giving the mandatory pre dive briefing.

We were privileged to know Randy and we will miss him

Peter and Sue Studdy

Voice Message to Randy August 2023

Hi Randy. I'm hopeful that you can hear my voice but, if nothing else, I hope you can feel my energy, and the sentiment of the words I want to share with you. In this moment, I am so grateful for all the time I got to have with you in my life.

I'm so grateful for the example that you always set of what it means to be passionate about something and act from joy and enthusiasm. There's no one who has made me see the ocean the way that you did, not even your mermaid daughter and your wife and son who exist in the ocean as if it's their normal, born-to-be place. There was just something about your passion for the ocean that made it seem the safest and most wonderful place to be.

That passion and sense of security that you just communicated with your being has helped so many people fall in love with the ocean. I really feel that that is the gift you were born into this world with and you made full use of that gift and for that I am so grateful and so inspired.

You also deserve the depths of my gratitude for all the moments you showed me love the way a father can and that has been truly priceless. There was never any divide when I was in your space between the love you showed me and the love you showed your children. Every birthday party or sleep-over or even when you picked Lauren up from somewhere, the sincerity of your hug or your greeting or your observation or your playfulness or your true intention was always something that I appreciated and felt warm because of.

You are the only person I have ever known to give my mother competition when it comes to learning through literature and the love of reading. I don't read enough right now and it's interesting that I think of both you and my mother demonstrating how important it is to take time and have our minds grow and be shaped by the world of authors. I remember a book you once read called "Salt" and how the way you described what you learned about history through that book got me to read again in my thirties, which felt like a breath of fresh air. It also reminded me of things I loved so much about my own father and the way he would retell to me the stories he would read and it made it a profound connection.

And I just want to thank you for all of that.

I arrived in Tortola in the summer of 1979 to work for George and Luana Marler. I was 24 years old and had previously worked as a SCUBA instructor in Grenada, St Thomas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

George showed me the dive sites and then let me loose on my own. I loved it all, but was feeling a bit isolated and alone. Much to my relief they hired another instructor within my first year - it was Randy. At first I didn’t know quite what to make of this former Green Beret from California, who even though he didn’t have any Caribbean experience was an LA County Instructor - the gnarliest and most macho of all the Instructor cards. Moreover, he was also an 3rd grade school teacher, originally from New Jersey and his father had fought in World War One. I didn’t know to think. It turned out that he was one of the gentlest and most generous people I had ever met. He did not hold back and shared most everything, not afraid to admit mistakes and inexperience and forever eager to learn more about most everything.

We bonded immediately. Even though we ran different dive boats from different locations and rarely dove together we got together almost every day after work and would wax philosophically for hours (and months) over how to run the perfect “one-man-dive-boat” scuba tour - no crew, no assistants, no GPS, no dive site mooring balls - just we alone with up to a dozen divers. Criminally negligent by today’s standards, but quite the exciting challenge for two young men up for adventure.

It wasn’t just about bringing everyone home safely (though that was not a given on a one-man boat), but sharing our passion for and knowledge about the underwater world and especially its inhabitants and their interrelationships. And as we dove the same sites repeatedly we got to know specific fish and where to find various critters (shout out to sea horses!). Sharing this knowledge with our divers, writing fish and invertebrate ID and details with a modified grease pencil on a simple plastic slate, rubbing it clean with our wetsuited elbows until the suit there turned red and worn out, was not only a great way to entertain the visiting divers, it also made them want to follow closely and not stray off - an invaluable benefit when leading a tour with no one running back up.

Our fellowship grew as we shared tips and hard earned knowledge. We both knew we were so immensely fortunate to be able to spend so much of our lives underwater, intimately getting to know the reefs and wrecks of the BVI. It’s a privilege neither of us ever came to take for granted.

As the years and then decades passed we spent less time together. The halcyon days of Aquatic Centers came to an end. I moved on to the business of underwater photography and then commercial photography (the fish don’t pay well). Randy went on to own his own dive company and start a family. But on a small island Randy and Maritha (and then Lauren and then Austin) were never far away. And, like everyone else here, I came to celebrate the legend of Randy Keil - his ability to calm and reassure the most timid diver; his generosity of time and eagerness to give back to the community, especially for the cause of marine preservation; his pride in his family; his ready and mischievous smile; and above all, his big open loving heart that was so eager to embrace and include everything and everyone. There was no malice in the man. I do miss him sorely and while he made his world a better place, it is diminished with his passing. You are now one with the Cosmos, brother. Keep your grease pencil handy!

For the very short time I have lived and interacted with Randy these are the qualities that stands out most to me. He was very quiet and loved watching television especially nature programs. To satisfy his love and passion for diving, when he was unable to do so he would have often looked at under water programs. He took very good care of the family pet dog (blue). I admired how he used to prepared dinner for both his wife and himself but would wait until maritha gets home so they can both sit and enjoy dinner together and of course he was a late night anytime of the night snacker. May his soul continue to rest in peace.

The first time I met Randy was in April 2008, in his Dive Shop on Peter Island. I’d been sent to him by my husband, Jim Scheiner. 

Randy and Jim were longtime dive colleagues and dear buddies. And to Jim (as to so many others) Randy was Legendary. 

Randy was not my dive instructor for the course, but he came to visit our “class” underwater one day. I was an anxious newbie diver and the sight of Randy as he glided slowly through the water towards our group, calmed me instantly. My breathing slowed. He was natural, joyful, and deeply at home.

That’s how I’ll remember Randy, with a beaming smile on his face. Beatific. Like an underwater Buddha.

With love and sympathy to his Beloved’s: Maritha, Lauren and Austin

I first met Randy and Maritha in the early 80s and had the honor of attending their first and second wedding. Both Randy and Maritha were superb divers and Randy made it his life’s work. Everyone knows how skilled and enthusiastic Randy was about diving and most everything else. Even though we went back years, I didn’t have that many opportunities to dive with Randy, but there was one occasion that was very special. Randy and myself were hired as safety divers for Dave Mansfield to film a marlin. Jim Scheiner was on board to take stills and Rod Lang rounded out the crew. We arrived at the dropoff, myself and Randy armed with bang sticks. Not knowing what to expect, I went into the water first and luckily there was nothing in sight. Randy rolled in immediately after and dropped his bang stick. I should point out that we were in 10,000 feet of water so retrieving the bang stick was not an option. Randy continued that whole dive pretending he had a bang stick. I think I would have gone back to the boat for at least a broomstick handle. The job continued to day 2, Randy equipped with a new bang stick and this one was real. Dave advised that the bang stick company would pay extra money for footage of a shark being killed using the bang sticks. At this point I refused due to fear. However Randy refused on principle, not wanting to kill a shark for commercial purposes. Even without the shark murder we got some great footage of the marlin and a big tiger shark and tons of smaller sharks. It was a great couple of days I will never forget and Randy was a huge part of making it memorable.